The head of the Senate Democrats’ campaign committee says Republicans have miscalculated if they think Obamacare will be their ticket to a Senate takeover in 2014.

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) told reporters at the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee’s headquarters Wednesday that a year from now the health law probably won’t tip tight races — and is more likely to be a boon to Democrats on the November 2014 ballot.

Text Size

-

+

reset

“I don’t anticipate that the rollout of the ACA is going to be material in this election in 2014, except that it may very well be to the good,” he said. “People are going to be insured at a lower cost and all the other benefits.”

Bennet said he didn’t think the health law would tip the balance of any of the nation’s most competitive Senate races, but he did acknowledge that the rollout of the health law could be uneven. “We should learn from the states where the rollout is good. I can tell you from the perspective of our state, it’s nowhere near the train wreck … that these [Republicans] have made it out to be.”

He called the renewed drive by some Republicans to defund Obamacare even if it means shutting down the government “perplexing” and said it was a major misread of public sentiment. “It doesn’t make any sense to people at home,” he said.